Section: South China Morning Post (China)
Man seizes bus in Ukraine, takes 20 passengers hostage
An armed man seized a bus and took some 20 people hostage in northwestern Ukraine on Tuesday, Ukrainian police said.Police sealed off the centre of Lutsk, a city 400km west of Kiev. The assailant is armed and carrying explosives, they said in a Facebook statement.Police officers are trying to get in touch with the man. He called the police...
Poland’s Andrzej Duda falls victim to Russian prankster posing as UN chief in phone call
A Russian prankster posing as the UN secretary general, managed to get through to Poland’s re-elected president, Andrzej Duda, on the telephone, rendering him speechless following questions about Ukraine, Russia and the outcome of Sunday’s election.The prankster, Vladimir Kuznetsov, known as Vovan, posted a recording of the 11-minute...
Iran blames ‘misaligned radar’ for shooting down of Ukrainian jet that killed 176
Iran said that the misalignment of an air defence unit’s radar system was the key “human error” that led to the accidental downing of a Ukrainian passenger plane in January.“A failure occurred due to a human error in following the procedure” for aligning the radar, causing a ‘107-degree error’ in the system, the Iranian Civil Aviation...
Trump impeachment witness Alexander Vindman retiring from army, blaming ‘bullying and retaliation’ by president
Former White House aide Alexander Vindman, a key figure in the impeachment of President Donald Trump, said on Wednesday he was retiring from the US Army after suffering what his lawyer described as campaign of “bullying, intimidation, and retaliation” by the president.Vindman, an Army lieutenant colonel who had been due for a promotion, provided...
After crackdowns in Asia, is Ukraine the world’s next ‘online baby store’?
Tears of joy stream down Andrea Viez’s face as she lifts her baby boy, born to a surrogate mother in Ukraine.“He’s a star,” the Argentinian in her late 40s says, her voice trembling.After nine years of trying to have a child, Viez can finally hold her son in her arms, thanks to a booming surrogacy industry in Ukraine that has given...
John Bolton accuses Trump of ‘transgressions’ beyond Ukraine in memoir
Defying the White House, former US national security adviser John Bolton will release a book that suggests President Donald Trump committed impeachable offences beyond Ukraine and alleges that his entire foreign policy is motivated by domestic politics.Trump earlier this year warned Bolton not to publish his book while the president was still in...
Ukraine court rejects Chinese appeal in aerospace deal opposed by United States
A court in Kiev has rejected an appeal by Chinese investors to unfreeze the shares of a Ukrainian aircraft engine maker, a setback for the Chinese company that sought to buy the Ukrainian firm in a deal opposed by the United States.China’s Skyrizon Aircraft Holdings bought a majority stake in Motor Sich, but the shares were frozen in 2017...
Ukraine firefighters battle fire near Chernobyl, with radiation 16 times higher than normal
Firefighters in the Chernobyl exclusion zone of northern Ukraine on Monday entered their third day of battling a forest fire in the area, still contaminated with radiation from the nuclear power plant disaster more than three decades ago.Radiation in the area was 16 times higher than normal background levels, a senior environmental official, Egor...
Malaysia Airlines MH17 trial: Dutch prosecutors claim Russian interference casts ‘dark shadow’ over proceedings
Dutch prosecutors accused Russia on Tuesday of interfering with the probe into the downing of flight MH17 and casting a “dark shadow” over the trial of four suspects in the disaster.Moscow had tried to track down witnesses in the trial that started on Monday in the Netherlands, leaving some in fear for their lives in case they were identified,...
As Malaysia Airlines MH17 trial begins in The Hague, court examines ‘atrocious disaster’
The trial of four men charged with murder over the July 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 began on Monday in The Hague. The defendants did not show up in court but the sombre proceedings were watched instead by family members of the 298 victims who perished when the plane was shot down over eastern Ukraine.“As you can see, none of the...
